Cable suburban railway



(No Model.)

0. E. EMERY.

CABLE SUBURBAN RAILWAY.

No. 430179. Patented June 17, 1890.

NITED STATES 'ATJENT OFFICE.

CHARLES E. EHERY, OF BROOKLYN, NEIV YORK.

CABLE SUBURBAN RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 430,179, dated June 17,1890.

Application filed May 19, 1888. Renewed April 19, 1890. Serial No.348,591. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, CHARLES E. EMERY, of Brooklyn, Kings count-y, NewYork, (oflicc New York city,) have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Cable Suburban Railways; and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, referencebeing had to the ac companying drawings, making part of thisspecification.

This invention relates to an adaptation of a cable haulage system to thesystem of mul-,

tiple starting-points adapted for suburban roads set forth in anotherapplication, although portions of the invention are adapted for otherpurposes. The particular adaptation is for grips located above the lineof the rails, so that the cars may be run over ordinary switches andfrogs the same as the cars of ordinary railroads without any part pr0-jecting below the level of the rails, though portions of the inventionmay be used for depressed gripes.

To accomplish the purposes intended multiple cables are employed inconnection with the multiple gauntleted tracks, each cable supported onthe center line of each of the gauntleted tracks, or in such relationthereto that each cable will be particularly adapted for engaging withthe grips on the cars on the corresponding track. Special guide-framesare employed for guiding the cable into a slit in the curved rail whichconnects a pair of the gauntleted rails with the turn-out.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of the rails of the main lineand of a turn-out gauntleting therewith, also the general arrangement ofthe diverting and supporting sheaves necessary to complete theoperation.

Fig. 2 is a diagram representing the principal features of Fig. 1 inelevation. Fig. 3 is a plan view of a slit cut through a pair of railsfor the passage of a cable. Fig. 4 is a longitudinal elevation of a yokesecuring such rails together so as to leave a channel for the passage ofa rope below the level of the rails.

Fig. 5 is an end elevation of Fig. 4, with the on a larger scale thanFig. 1, of gauntleted tracks, showing the rails in section and thesupporting-sheaves for the cables.

In the drawings, a and I) represent the rails of a turn-out gauntletedat the right with the rails c and d of the main line. The cable of theturn-out is designated f, and that of the main line g.

7L represents a supporting-sheave on the line of the turn-out cable, andj s r q t j similar sheaves on the line of the main cable. It isproposed as a general rule that the cables be supported at about thelevel of the rails. VVit-h the arrangement shown the cars to or from theturn-out would in general drop the cable 3' ust before they reach thereverse curve connecting the turn-out with the main line and then pickup the cable again after the reverse curve is passed.

Neither the grips nor the-arrangement for gripping the cable are shownon the plans; but devices in general use would be employed for thepurposesuch, for instance, as those in use on the Brooklyn bridge.(Shown and described in my application, Serial No. 276,388, filed June7, 1888.)

In Figs. 1 and 2 the cable f of the turn-out is shown passing from thegauntleted tracks over the sheave 7c, thence under diagonallyarrangedsheaves m and n, thence upward and over a sheave 0, which directs thecable in the center of the rails a b of the turn-out. The cable g ofthernain line, however, runs in a straight line between the rails c andd. passing'through a diagonal slit in curved rail Z) of the turn-out.The cable is given atendency to enter such slit and lie below the levelof the rails by lowering the supportingsheaves in a vertical curve for adistance either side of the slit 1), so that the cable by its weightwill, notwithstanding its tension, keep below the rail-level and not beinjured by the wheels of cars passing to the turn-out.

than the diameter of the cable, which space for each frame, as shown inFig. 1, is arranged on the line of the cable. The inclined edges of thejaws of the frame are preferably arranged a little above the line of therails, but of course sufficiently below the grips to avoid interferencetherewith. These guide-frames may for simplicity of construction carrythe depressed supporting-sheaves q and 7', although this is notessential so long as similar sheaves are arranged near to guide thecable between the jaws of guide-frames.

The guide-frames A A are to be arranged along the line of the cable farenough away from the rail b of the crossing to prevent interference withthe flanges and treads of the car-wheels, and at such distanceproportioned to the weight and tension of the cable as to secureoperation as follows: When no train is passing, the cable will by itsown weight sag down upon the supporting-rollers q and '1"; but as atrain'moves over the grip above the rails necessarily the cable will belifted out of the guide-frames A A and slit p, but will settle downagain after the passage is made. If it be supposed that a train ismoving from the right toward the left in Fig. 2, and that the cable isattached to the grip at or near the point D, and its weight isunsupported from that point to the supportingroller 3, the cable at alittle distance to the left of the supporting-roller s will sag belowthe ley'el of such roller before rising to the grip and in so doingenter the flaring jaws of the guide-frame A, which will stop all lateralshake of the cable and center and guide it, so that the inclined portiong at the left leading to the grip will enter the slit 1). As the carmoves on to the left the cable will enter also the other guide-frame Aand the cable take the position shown by the dotted line 9 For motion inthe other direction the curve would rise from left to right and firstenter the guide-frame A and be guided thereby into the slit andafterward enter the guide-frame A. For motion in one direction only oneguide-frame is required.

In operation it is expected that the train going to or from the turn-outwill approach the reverse curve at sufficient speed to run a little morethan the length of such curve, when the cable may be dropped and pickedup again after passing the curve. Auxiliary cables, locomotives, orother power may be employed to operate the cars on the turn-outs and runthem over the reverse curves to the main line or for the latter purposesimply. I11 the former case the cable for the cars over the turn-out maybe led out of the way in any convenient manner at the station and besimply kept above the road-bed on the main line and used to propel thetrains between stations. Evidently the number of parallel turn-outs maybe multiplied and each track gauntleted on the main line with the othertracks, and the number of cables can be multiplied to suit the number ofindependent gauntleted tracks.

The advantages of having an independent cable for each of the gauntletedtracks are, first, that the same cars may be run over either set ofrails and yet the grips be in proper position to engage with the cableintended for operation in connection with such rails. Anether advantageis that smaller cables can be used, as all the cars connecting to eachturnout take a separate cable, which is accomplished without any lateraladjustment of the grips on the cars, for the reason that the cable andsupporting-sheaves of each turnout track gauntleted with the main lineare moved as much laterally as the rails themselves. The same details ofconstruction are also applicable for a terminal station, in which case,however, two cables f and Q Would run in opposite directions and couldbe the direct and return branches of the same cable. The trains would bebrought in from left to right, for instance, by cable g over rails cand61, then switched at the right to rails aand b, and return by cable f.More simply, the tracks to the right could be made ascending from leftto right and the train propelled up the grade by the cable g, when byturning a switch the cars could be run back on the return-track bygravity, in which case the cable f at the right could be kept out of theway and only be brought up on the return-track at the left.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In combination with a supporting-roller, a guide-frame A, providedwith double jaws with beveled tops, such jaws connected together at thebottom and provided with suitable fianges for attachment to theroad-bed.

2. In combination with a slit in a turn-out for the passage ofa cable,one or more guideframes A, each provided with double jaws with beveledtops andwith suitable flanges for attachment to the road-bed.

3. A guide-frame A, consisting of two jaws with upper edges flaredoutward and provided with suitable flanges for attachment to theroad-bed, and with an attachment for carrying a supporting-sheave,substantially as and for the purposes specified.

CHAS. E. EMERY.

\Vitnesses:

Row. M. REnvs, GEORGE O. PENNELL.

